Aero ore-concentrator and placer-machine.



E. H. TATE. AERO ORE GONGENTRATOR AND PLACER MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1909.

Patented Feb. 21, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 xi Q/ 1 7206221 01" E'ari E. H. TATE. AEEO ORECONGENTRATOR AND PLACER MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1909.

Patented Feb. 21, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

zo L

1 Be it known that 13, EARL H. TATE,

UNITED; STATES PATENT OFF EARL H. TATE, OFv LOS AHGELES, CALIFORNIA.

h'ERo ORE-CONCENTRATOR AND PLACER-MACHINE.

To all whom it may. concern:

I a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the countyof- Los Angeles and" State of California, have invented a new and usefulAero Ore-Concentrator and Placer-Machine, of which the following is aspecification. I

The object of this invention is to provide '10 light, readily portable,cheap, strong, and

highly-effective means for separating minerals from the materials inwhich they occur.

This invention relates to the class of machines in which air is used tobuoy up and carry 01f the wastem'aterials while the valuable mineralsand heavy concentrates separate from the gangue bygravity and aredelivered to a suitable-receptacle for'reductiojn. The machine isadapted for operation either manually or otherwise.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a manually-operable ore-concentratorconstructed in accordance with this invention. 'Fig. 2 is a plan of theconcentrating table detached. The flexible concentrate discharge-tubesare shown hung 1113/ Fig. 3 a fragmental view partly in cross-section online indicated at m", Fig. 2, looking toward the right. A flexibleconcentrate discharge-tube isshown released to discharge theconcentrates. Fig.4 is a fragmntal view of a plurality'of theriflie-segments. Fig. 5 is a distorted view, partly in section, at rightangles to the rifilesegments and partly in section lengthwlseof thechamber underneath the rifile-sections. This-view shows the air-inlet tosaid airchamber and outlets to the concentratetrough. Line w m Fig. 2,indicates. the

line of'section. Fig. 6 is a SGCtIOII on line at, a

Fig. 2, looking up in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 7 is a sideelevation of themachine from the back of Fig. 1 and the right- '45 handside of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a fragmental, perspective view of one of thesegmental rifiies, Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the segmental. memberforming the bottom of the ,concentrate-trough. Fig. :10 is a fragmental,

' sectional detail of one of the riflles. Fig. 11

is an enlarged detail of the bumpmg and lifting contrivance at the headofthe table. Fig. 12 is a fragm'ental view showing an arrangement of thesegmental riflies just the Specification of Letters Patent. PatentedFeb. 21, 1911.

npplieation filed MayJi, 1909. Serial No. 494,469.

reverse of that shown in Fig. Fig. 13 is a fragmental, sectionalelevation on line m, Fig. 2, to show the upward inclination of theriffies from their heads to their discharge ends.

The frame of the, machine is constructed of angle-irom'and. comprises abase 1 of pyramidal form and an oblique extension 2 extending upwardlyaslant fromthe base.

.The base comprises a bottom-piece 3 composed of a single length ofangle-iron bent into the form of a parallelogram having two long sides4, 5, and two short ends 6, 7.

The recess of the angle-iron is directed inwardly and upwardly; and intosaid recess, at thefour corners of the base, are seated fourupwardly-converging standards 8, 9,

at a distance apart and are fastened at the corners to the top-piece 12which is made of a length of "angle-iron bent into a parallel 10, 11,which terminate at their upper ends ogram similar to but smaller thanthebottom-piece 3. The tops of the standards fit and are fixed to the toppiece, at the corners thereof. The standards 8, 9, at one end of thebase are shorter than the standards 10, 11, at the other end of the baseso that the top-piece 12 extends aslant relative to the bottom-piece 3to form a support for bearlngs 13, 14,.and 15, 16, in whieh arejournaled rock-shafts 17, 18. The rock-shaft 17 1s PIOVldGCl' at one endwith an upwardlyextending arm 19 and at the other end withanupwardly-extending arm 20, each of which arms is provided atits upperend with a circular eye 21. The rock-shaft 18 is provided at its endswith upwardly-extendlug rock-arms 22, 23, each of which is provided atits upper end with a verticallyelongate eye 24:.

25 is a concentrating-table-frame, the same being formed of angle-ironbent into oblong shape and provided at its sides with cylindrical pivots26, 27, 28, 29, that are journaled in the eyes 21 .and 2%, said pivotsbelng-provided with bases 30 by which they are fastenedto thetable-frame 25.

.The'arms,of the'rock-shafts are held up right by means of a pitman 31that is pivoted by a wrist-pin 32 to the arm 20of the tailend'rock-shaft 17 and connected byan eccentric-strap 33 with an eccentriccam 34 that is fastened to a shaft 35 which is mounted in bearings 36,37, on the head standards 10, 11. The eccentric-cam is constructed toreciprocate'the pitman with a slight throw, which in actual practice inthe machine illustrated is i inch in length. The concentrating-table isthus reciprocated endwise in the direction of the large doubleh'eadedarrow in Fig.2 whenever the pitman is operated by the cam. Therock-shaft arms which support the table-frame are approximately of thesame length and each ofthe pivots moves in the arc of acircle almostdirectly over the center of the rock-shaft, so that the movement of thetable-frame efl'ected'by the arms alone would bev of a regularcharacter; but there is provided a bumper 38 having an oblique face 39arranged in the path of a bearing 40. on the table-frame nearly in linewith the axis of the pivots, and this serves to lift the table-framefrom the pivots in the elongated eyes at the close of each stroke of thet ble in the direction of the tail'or lower en and to allow the ',headof the table to lo'werwat the beginning of eachreturn stroke. toward theupper end.

i "The result of this, action is to jar the table at every revolution ofthe cam aswellas to reciprocate the table endwise, and the head end ofthe table is given an up-and-down movement greater than that of the tailof the table, all of which assists in moving forwhich are produced byangularslits form-W ing tongues that are bent upwardly and that extendtoward the concentratingtrough l6 of the table. The ridged concentratingsurface 'formed by the foraminous sheet-metal tube-segments has openingsthrough the opposite side walls of the valleys thereof so that when airunder pressure is applied to the underside of said surface and hence tothe inside of the tube-segments, air will issue from the side walls ofthevalleys in numerous streams, those from each otthe side Walls of anyvalley flowing toward and impinging upon streams from the opposite,

sidewall-of said valley so that in each valley the air-currents tendfrom the sides of the valley toward the midline of the valley and thenceupwardly, flowing'at the same time toward the concentrates side of thetable by reason of the direction given the air by the form andarrangement of the slotlike openings particularly herein-described.

Said trough is bounded atits sides by twowalls'47, 48. Un rneath theinner wall 47 I this purpose:

are openings 49 into the trough from be tween the riilles. The riflies43 are mounted on and form the top of an air-box 50 into the bottom ofwhich at the head-end of the table opens an air-pipe collar 51 ontowhich a flexible air-pipe 52 is telescoped; the same being connected atits lower end with the blower-pipe 53' to direct air. into the box 50from the blower 54 which may be of any ordinary type operable bysuitable means. In the drawings a crank 54' is provided for Said bloweris provided with a driving sprocket-wheel 55 connected by asprocket-chain 56 to a driven sprocket-wheel 57'- on the cam-shaft 35 sothat when the blower is operatedthe table will be reciprocated by thecam 34; The top of the airbox is formed by the segmental rifi'ies 43 andwires 58 that are led along and are' raised above the centersof thevalleys midwaylbetween the crowns of the segments, as clearly shown inFig. 4. The wires 58 constitute auxiliary riflies' or air mixers whichretard the air going through the side walls of the segmental foraminous'rittles the tops of which riflles are provided with an imperforateportion 90-so that the top. of the table is doubly riflied having-foraminous riftles Support and retard the middlings and allow theconcentrates to move along the sides of the riflles; and by theircylindrical form shown,produce abovethe sheet metal surface, small waysalong which concentrates may flow. Said solid riflles 58 may contactwith the surface of the foraminous rifiles and the concentrates mayvflow along both sides of the raised solid riflles 58. Ports 59 in onewall of the air-box 50 open into an air-pipe 60 underneath theconeentrate trough 46, which trough may be a sheet-metal segmentprovided with angular slits 44 corresponding to those of the segmentalriflles 43. This trough serves as a conduit for the concen trates, andthe operation of the air through the slits of the trough and through theslits of the riflles is practically the same upon the material inthe,trough-and on the riflles,

the case may be, tending to move the lighter material on' toward thetail of the machine;

The concentrate-trough is separated by transverse partitions 61, 62, 63,64, into sections into which the concentratesdischarge from the ends ofthe rifiles 43. From the lower end-of each of these sections theconcentrate discharge-spouts 65, 66, 67 68 open, and onto the same aretelescoped the ends of flexible concentrate-pipes 69, 70, "71', 72,which may taper to a small diameter andmay be hooked upon hooks 7 3 thatare above the level of the spouts so that the concentrates will beretained in the flexible pipes until said pipes are released from thehooks and allowed to hang down as indicated in Fig. 3. Then theconcentrates will discharge. g y

At the upper end of the table there is a plain distributingplate ontowhich the 5 material may fall from a hopper 75 provided with an opening76 which is elon-- gated transversely'of the table and delivers thematerial to be separated ontothe top of the table. Said opening iscontrolled by a slide 77 by which it may be contracted or entirelyclosed. In the hopper there is provided a cdarse screen 78 and a finescreen 79, the latter discharging the finer waste through a slot 80, andthe former discharging the coarser waste through the opening 81. Overthe top of the distributing-plate 74 and the riflies'43 is stretched awire screen 82 to carry down any material that may have .passed throughthe second screen 79; The first screen 7 8 may be inch'mesh, the secondscreen 79, half-inch mesh, and the third screen 82, one-fourth inchmesh; so that only the material which is finer than would pass over theone-fourth inch mesh screen will reach the riflled-table.

83 is the tail-plate of the table provided with traps 84, 85, for anyheavy values that may have passed the concentrating surfaces above.These traps may be provided with removable bottoms as the p screw-caps86 that may be removed, thus to recover the contents of the traps. Alike trap with a removable bottom or cap 87 is provided at the tail ofthe air-box so that any finer values that may have passed through theconcentfating surface can be collected.

The riflies and the valleys between them are arranged diagonally, theirdischarge-- ends at theconcentrating-trough 46 being nearer thetail-plate of the table than is the head-end ofthe riflle. The table istilted transversely, and the ritfies slant upwardly from their heads ato their tails or discharge.- ends I), so that the concentrates thatpass over the table must riseas they proceed to the discharge-end b. Theframe of the table; is provided with a spirit-level 88 so-that theoperator can set the frame in level position without difliculty, thusbringing the riflies to the appropriate slant.

Above the discharge-end of the air-pipe 52 ,is a deflector 89. Theair-pipe 53 opens into the air-box 50 at theupper end thereof, and thedeflector 89 is arranged aslant upwardly toward the lower or dischargeend of the table and underneath the riffles; an open space90 beingprovided all around the top of the pipe underneath the deflector so thatthe air escapes from the pipe 53 on all 60 sides thereof and provides aneven pressure upon the, underside of the riflles through which the airflows to hold in suspension the lighter material, so that the same maybe carried oif thereby. By providing the angu- 65 lar slits which formtongues, the air issues face formed in' ridges and valleys the sidesaround the sides of the tongues in streams and over the spaces betweenthe slits, thus producing a peculiar action upon the material, tendingto. allow the heavy values to fall and move along' theriftles, while thelighter material is held in suspension and thoroughly shaken andagitated by the varying pressures of air as it passes alternately overthe slitted and the solid portions.

In practice, the apparatus will be set in position where the pay-dirtoccurs or is available,vcare being taken that the tabletop' is given aconsiderable endwise slant downward toward the tail-end and asidewiseslant upward toward the discharge-side of the riflled surface.The endwise slant may be six inches in four feet, and the side wiseslant three-fourths of an inch in eighteen inches. The degree ,of slantmay be varied within the judgment of the operator. Then the crank 54will be turned by one workman, thus operating theblower and shaking thetable, while another workman shovels the pay-dirt into the hopper.

By reason of the segmental form of rifiles the top rifiies are concaveas clearly seen in Fig. 4, thus being provided with gently. slopingsides down which the material flows on its way to the solid rifiles 58and since such sides are foraminous by reason of the 1 slits, thematerial as it passes thereover is effectively operated upon" witho'utviolent action and the concentrates gradually find their way toengagement with the solid rifii'es down which they way out of themachine.

I claim I '1. The concentrator table having a. surwill pass on their ofwhich ridges and valleys are foraminous and. the tops of which ridgesare impervious to air; and means for supplying air pres.-

sure to the underside of said surface.

2; A concentrating table provided with a sheet-metal top that is formedwith ridges and valleys: the side walls-of the valleys being perforatedby angular slits forming tongues which project toward one edge of thetop, and means to supply air under pressure to the under-side of saidtop.

3. A concentrating table provided'with a sheet-metal top that is formedwith ridges and valleys and is perforated through the side walls of suchvalleys by angular slits forming tongues,.and means to supply air 1under pressure to the under-side of said top. I

4. A concentrating table provided with a top formed of segmental sheet.metal tubes that are perforated to admit air through the 125 formingcurved faces that are perforated along their sides with angular slitsforming tongues, said tongues being bent upward,

and means to supply air -under pressure to .the under-side of said top.

6. A concentrating table provided-with a top formed of, sheet-metal tubese ments having curved faces that .are per orated along their sides withangular slits forming tongues, said tongues being bentupward andextending lengthwise of the segments,

. and meansto supply air under the under-side of said top.

7.; Aconcentrating table having'a concentrating surface one end of whichis higher than the other end and one side of which is higher than theother side, said surface being formed in ridges and valleys that extenddiagonally across the table, the side walls of said valleys beingforaminous,

pressure to means to force air through said surface, and

means to reciprocate the table.

8. A concentrating table having a concentrating surface formed in ridgesandvalleys and provided with openings directed along the ridges andtoward one side of the table,

.means to force air through said openings,

and means to shake the table; the side of the table toward which theopenings are directed being higher than the other side and one end ofthe table being higher than the other end, and said ridges and valleysextending diagonally across the table, and the ends of such ridges andvalleys at the high side of, the table being higher than the ends. ofthe ridges and valleys respectively atthe other side.

9. A concentrating table having a. concen-- 'trating surface formed bythe conjunction of a series of foraminous sheet-metal tube segmentsforming curved faces, the openings through said faces being. slot-likeand consisting of angular's'lits forming tongues, said tongues beingbent upwardly and all exand all extending in the samegenerald-irectending in the same general direction along thetubesegments; y

'10. A concentrating table having a concentratingsurface formed by theconjunction of a series of foraminous sheet-metal L50 tube-segmentsforming curved faces; the

openings through said segments being slotlike and consisting-of angularslits forming tongues, said tongues being bent upwardly tion along saidsegments; means to force air through the openings, and means to shakethe table.

- "11. I An ore-concentratorv 7 comprising table provided with aforaminousriflied top,

a frame, rock-shafts journaled on said frame and provided withupwardly-extending arms having eyes, a table provided with pivots insaid eyes, the eyes in the arms of I one of the rock-shafts being.verticallyelongate; a pitman pivoted to one of said arms to shake thetable, means on theframe to operate the pitlnan; a bearing on thetableframe, a bumper having an oblique face arranged in the path of suchbearing and nearly in line with the axis of the pivots so that the.bearing will ride upon the bumper at each stroke of the table in thedirection of the tail or lower end of the table, and means to operatethe pitman.

. IQ/In an ore-concentrator, the combination with a foraminous riflledsurface, of a trough to receive concentrates from such surface, saidtrough being provided with a slitted bottom, the slits being arranged toform tongues, and means to force air through the riflled surface andthrough the slitted bottom.

13. A concentrating table comprising an air-box, a trough alongsidetheair-box, the bottom of the trough being foraminous and the top of thebox being formed with foraminous rifiies to discharge material into thetrough; means to supply air under pressure to theair-box', and means toshake the table. I

I 14. A concentrating table comprising an air-box, a trough alongside,the air-box, the

bottom of the trough being foraminous and the top of the box beingformed with f0 raminous riflles. to'discharge' material into the trough;means to supply air under pressure to the air-box, means to shake thetable, partitions separating the trough into' sections, and means todischarge concentrates receive concentrates from the table, said tablebein formed by.the conjunction of a series of foraminous sheet metaltube segments provided with openings formed by angular slits that aredirected toward the concentrating trough of the table, which tubesegments. form valleys; a series of solid I wire air-rifiles at thecenter of the valleys for the purpose of breaking the air pressurethrough the sloping sidesof the tube segments; said wires being arrangedstationary extending fromthe low side of the concen-- 'trating table tothe trough that receives the concentrates and lying in their valleysparallel with the hollow segment tubes that form rifiles and extenddiagonally across the over the rifiles and plate, means to supplysurface of the table rising toward their disair under pressure to theriffles, and means charge ends. Y 1 j to shake the table.

17. An ore-conce t at-or comprising a In testimony whereof, I havehereunto set 5 slanting hopper, superposed coarser and my hand at LosAngeles, California, this 15 finer screens to discharge waste from the29th day of April, 1909.

hopper, a concentrating table having a dis-i EARL H. TATE.trilmting-plate under the hopper to receive 1 In presence of.

the screened material, said table being aslant: JAMES R. TOWNSEND, 10and provided wlth shtted rlfiies, a screen BEULAI-I TOWNSEND.

